This invention relates generally to dielectric materials and their use in electronic devices such as integrated circuits. More particularly, the invention pertains to defect-free dielectric coatings and preparation thereof using nitrogen-containing polymers as pore-generating agents. The dielectric coatings so prepared are useful in a number of contexts, for example in electronic devices such as integrated circuit devices and integrated circuit packaging devices.
As semiconductor devices are becoming smaller and on-chip device density is correspondingly increasing, both signal delays due to capacitive coupling and crosstalk between closely spaced metal lines are increasing. These problems are exacerbated by the need to keep conductor lines as short as possible in order to minimize transmission delays, thus requiring multilevel wiring schemes for the chip. The problems have been ameliorated to some extent by the switch to copper metallurgy, but as feature sizes go below 0.25 xcexcm, this alone will not provide a solution. The use of an insulator with a lower dielectric constant than the currently used SiO2 (k=3.9-4.2) would also, clearly, improve the situation. Current integration demands for insulators used with, for example, Al(Cu) wiring, also require thermal stabilities in excess of 400xc2x0 C., good mechanical properties, resistance to crack generation and propagation, low defect densities, low water uptake, chemical resistance, processability by photolithographic techniques and gas phase etching procedures, and capacity for planarization.
Accordingly, considerable attention has focused on the replacement of silicon dioxide with new materials, particularly materials having lower dielectric constants, since both capacitive delays and power consumption depend on the dielectric constant of the insulator. This is not a simple matter given the complexities and demands of current semiconductor integration processes. Of the existing materials with demonstrated ultra-low dielectric constants, the highly fluorinated materials (e.g., Teflon) have the longest history. For example, attempts have been made to reduce the dielectric constant of polyimides by incorporating perfluoroalkyl-containing comonomers into the polymer structure (see, e.g., Haidar et al. (1991) Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 227:35; Critchlen et al. (1972) J. Polym. Sci. A-I10 1789; and Harris et al. (1991) Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 227:3). The synthesis of polyimides based on 9,9-disubstituted xanthene dianhydrides, e.g., 6FXDA/6FDA (9,9-bis(trifluoromethoxy)xanthenetetracarboxylic dianhydride/2,2-bis(4-aminophenyl)-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane), as well as polyimides based on the TFMOB monomer (2,2xe2x80x2-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzidine), has been reported (see Muraka (March 1996) Solid State Tech 83 and Jang et al. (1994) Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 337:25). Although fluorinated alkane polymers such as these have the lowest dielectric constants of any homogeneous polymers and substitution with fluorine decreases the dielectric constant of any polymer, there are many liabilities. Current integration requirements call for exceptional thermal stability at temperatures in the range of 400-450xc2x0 C. This temperature region is a problem for most organic polymers, and particularly for many fluorocarbons. Also, adhesion of fluorinated materials (self-adhesion, adhesion to metals, dielectrics, ceramics, etc.) is a problem without some prior surface pretreatment. Further, the stability of fluorinated materials due to interaction with interconnect metallurgy at elevated temperatures is problematic. The mechanical properties of many known fluorinated materials (particularly fluoroalkanes) are not ideal; they usually have large thermal expansion coefficients and are intrinsically soft materials. The latter creates a problem for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) procedures. Finally, the methodology to develop other highly fluorinated materials such as fluorinated polyimides is limited by synthetic difficulties associated with the incorporation of a substantial number of pendant perfluoroalkyl groups.
Attempts have been made to reduce the dielectric constant of such materials through the introduction of kinks and conjugation-interrupting linkages in the polymer backbone to lower molecular polarizability and reduce chain-chain interactions (St. Clair et al. (1988) Proc. Amer. Chem. Soc. Div. Polym. Mater. Sci. Eng. 59:28). A more viable approach, however, has been controlled introduction of porosity into existing low dielectric constant materials.
Generation of porous polymer foams substantially reduces the dielectric constant of the material while maintaining the desired thermal and mechanical properties of the base (or xe2x80x9chostxe2x80x9d) polymer. The reduction in dielectric constant is achieved by incorporating air voids, as air has a dielectric constant of 1.01. The advantage of a foam approach is illustrated in Hedrick et al. (1995) Polymer 36:2685, which illustrates in graph form a Maxwell-Garnett model of composite structures based on a matrix polymer having an initial dielectric constant of 2.8. Incorporation of a second phase of dielectric constant 1.01, as with the introduction of air-filled pores in a foam, causes a dramatic reduction in the dielectric constant. However, foams provide a unique set of problems for dielectric applications. The pore size must be much smaller than both the film thickness and any microelectronic device features. In addition, the pores are ideally closed cell, i.e., the connectivity between the pores must be minimal to prevent the diffusion of reactive contaminants. Finally, the volume fraction of the voids must be as high as possible to achieve the lowest possible dielectric constant. All of these features can alter the mechanical properties of the film and affect the structural stability of the foam.
An approach that has been developed for preparing a dielectric polymer foam with pore sizes in the nanometer regime involves the use of block copolymers composed of a high temperature, high Tg polymer and a second component that can undergo clean thermal decomposition with the evolution of gaseous by-products to form a closed-cell, porous structure. See, e.g., Hedrick et al. (1993) Polymer 34:4717, and Hedrick et al. (1995) Polymer 36:4855. The process involves the use of block copolymers that can undergo thermodynamically controlled phase separation to provide a matrix with a dispersed phase having a roughly spherical equilibrium morphology, monodisperse in size and discontinuous. By using as a host or matrix material a thermally stable polymer of low dielectric constant and, as the dispersed phase, a labile polymer that undergoes thermolysis at a temperature below the Tg of the vitrified matrix to yield volatile reaction products, one can prepare foams with pores in the nanometer dimensional regime that have no percolation pathway; they are closed structures with nanometer size pores that contain air.
While the method has proved to be useful in the laboratory, the inventors herein have found formation of porous structures to be problematic in several respects. That is, although the concept was demonstrated in principle (see Hedrick et al. (1993); and Hedrick et al. (1995)), application was complicated by synthetic difficulties and by the extremely small thermal processing window. Also, the thermal stability of the foam product was limited to about 350-375xc2x0 C. for thermoplastic hosts (Hedrick et al. (1996) J. Polym. Sci.; Polym. Chem. 34, 2867). Furthermore, although dielectric constants of 2.2-2.4 were achieved at porosity levels less than about 20% (see Hedrick et al. (1996)), the pore volume could not be further increased without compromising the small domain sizes and/or the non-interconnectivity of the pore structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,627 to Carter et al., also assigned to International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, N.Y.), low molecular weight amines are described as processing aids and toughening agents to improve the mechanical properties of silsesquioxane films. However, when low molecular weight amines are used as toughening agents or as pore-generating agents (or xe2x80x9cporogensxe2x80x9d), e.g., in the preparation of organosilicate dielectric materials, formulation stability is lacking and unwanted gelation often occurs within a very short period of time (on the order of hours). U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,357 to Hawker et al., also assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, describes the use of polymeric porogens in the preparation of porous dielectric materials, and while the process is effective, the range of nanoporosities that can be obtained is somewhat limited; that is, the void percentage in the porous product is limited to about 35%.
The present invention provides a novel method for preparing low dielectric materials, particularly dielectric coatings, comprised of films of porous matrices that are essentially free of defects typically associated with densified organosilicates on silicon or glass substrates. The coatings may be prepared with a significantly increased range of obtainable void volumes, wherein the matrices can contain non-interconnected, xe2x80x9cclosed cellxe2x80x9d pores or open celled highly porous channels in the form of sharply defined domains. Typically, the pores and/or porous channels are less than about 500 xc3x85 in diameter, preferably less than about 200 xc3x85 in diameter, more preferably less than about 100 xc3x85. Ideally, the coatings have very low dielectric constants (on the order of 2.0-2.2, or even lower), are thermally stable at temperatures in excess of about 400xc2x0 C., preferably greater than about 450xc2x0 C., and are readily processable by current fabrication techniques, including reactive ion etching (RIE), CMP, and high temperature annealing. The spinning solutions maintain a relatively low viscosity (less than about 10.0 cp) over an extended period (up to 30 days or more). The method involves the use of various nitrogen-containing polymers as pore-generating agents. In view of the problems with formulation stability and gelation encountered by using lower molecular weight, basic nitrogenous molecules in dielectric films, i.e., as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,627 to Carter et al., it is indeed surprising that nitrogenous polymers would provide excellent formulation stability and result in substantially defect-free coatings. The nitrogenous porogenic polymers are useful not only in the preparation of defect-free or substantially defect-free coatings, but also as pore-generating agents in the preparation of highly porous, low dielectric constant materials that may or may not be in the form of coatings, and as toughening agents and coating stabilizers.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to address the above-mentioned need in the art by providing a method for using nitrogenous polymers as porogens in the preparation of substantially defect-free dielectric coatings comprised of porous polymeric matrices.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a method wherein the coating of the porous polymeric matrix so prepared is comprised of an organosilicate.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a substantially defect-free dielectric coating prepared using the aforementioned process.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an integrated circuit device in which metallic circuit lines on a substrate are electrically insulated from each other by a dielectric material prepared according to the method of the invention.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide an integrated circuit packaging device (multichip module) that incorporates a dielectric material prepared according to the method of the invention.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The invention thus provides, in one embodiment, a method for making a substantially defect-free dielectric coating comprised of a porous material. Preferably, although not necessarily, the coating material has an average pore size of less than about 500 xc3x85 in diameter, preferably less than about 200 xc3x85 in diameter, more preferably less than about 100 xc3x85 in diameter, a void percentage in the range of approximately 5% to 95%, typically 5% to 85%, and a dielectric constant of less than about 2.5, preferably less than about 2.0. The method involves (a) admixing (i) a decomposable porogen comprised of a nitrogenous polymer containing a plurality of nitrogenous monomer units, the polymer typically although not necessarily having a number average molecular weight Mn of at least about 1000 g/mol, and (ii) a silicon-containing, high temperature thermosetting host polymer, in (iii) a suitable casting solvent, wherein the decomposable porogen and the host polymer are miscible with respect to each other; (b) depositing the admixture so prepared onto a substrate surface to provide an uncured coating thereon; (c) heating the uncured coating to a temperature effective to at least partially, and preferably fully, cure the host polymer and provide a coating of a vitrified, two-phase matrix comprised of vitrified host polymer and the porogen; and (d) decomposing the porogen. The specific method employed to bring about porogen decomposition will depend upon the nature of the porogen, as the porogen may be thermally decomposable, radiation decomposable, or chemically decomposable. For a thermally decomposable porogen, the vitrified, porogen-containing coating is heated to a temperature effective to degrade the porogen without affecting the vitrified host polymer (the curing temperature in step (c) is necessarily lower than the porogen degradation temperature). For a radiation decomposable porogen, the vitrified coating is exposed to radiation effective to degrade the porogen. For a chemically decomposable porogen, the vitrified coating is treated with a chemical reagent suitable to degrade the porogen without otherwise affecting the coating. Optionally, a coupling agent may be introduced into the admixture prepared in step (a), wherein the coupling agent is capable of promoting crosslinking of the porogen, chemical incorporation of the porogen into the host polymer, and possibly crosslinking of the host polymer as well. In addition, a basic catalyst (e.g., an amine or a Bronsted base) may be used to lower the required curing temperature in step (c), but is also optional and is generally not preferred.
In a further embodiment, a substantially defect-free coating of a dielectric material is provided that is prepared using the aforementioned technique. The defect-free coating is porous in nature, and preferably although not necessarily has an average pore size of less than about 500 xc3x85 in diameter, preferably less than about 200 xc3x85 in diameter, more preferably less than about 100 xc3x85 in diameter, a void percentage in the range of approximately 5% to 95%, preferably 5% to 85%, and a dielectric constant of less than 2.5, preferably less than about 2.0. The coating is comprised of a vitrified host polymer that has a pre-process number average molecular weight Mn in the range of approximately 750 to 100,000 g/mol, and that (after vitrification) is thermally stable at temperatures of at least about 400xc2x0 C., preferably temperatures of at least about 450xc2x0 C.
In a further embodiment of the invention, an integrated circuit device is provided that comprises: (a) a substrate; (b) individual metallic circuit lines positioned on the substrate; and (c) a substantially defect-free dielectric coating positioned over and/or between the individual metallic circuit lines, the substantially defect-free coating comprising the novel dielectric coating of the invention.
Still an additional embodiment of the invention relates to an integrated circuit packaging device providing signal and power current to an integrated circuit chip, the packaging device comprising:
(i) a substrate having electrical conductor means for connection to a circuit board,
(ii) a plurality of alternating electrically insulating and conducting layers positioned on the substrate wherein at least one of the electrically insulating layers is comprised of a substantially defect-free dielectric coating as provided herein; and
(iii) a plurality of vias for electrically interconnecting the electrical conductor, the conducting layers and the integrated circuit chip.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that dielectric coatings may have a host of additional applications, and the invention is not limited in this regard. For example, substrates coated with the dielectric material of the invention can serve as porous separation media and xe2x80x9cbiochips,xe2x80x9d i.e., miniaturized supports to be used in the binding and/or assaying of large quantities of biological molecules such as peptides, proteins, oligonucleotides, polynucleotides, and the like.